29 May 2015

It was an endgame blitz which allowed Meralco to even its win-loss record at 3-3, taking down Blackwater with an 87-72 victory last 29 May PBA Governor’s Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

The Bolts, who have alternated wins and losses so far in the conference, bucked a “lackadaisical first half” and came alive late, with Andre Emmett, Gary David, and Seiya Ando all hitting their strides in the last two quarters.

"It was a very good effort from us in the second half. The first half, we lacked energy, spunk. We allowed Blackwater to jump on us," said Meralco head coach Norman Black.

Down by as much bas 12-24 in the first half, Meralco outscored the Elite, 53-33, in the second, turning the tides and taking leads of as much as 16, 83-67, late in the game.

Averaging 37.0 points in the conference prior to the game, Emmett was not his usual scoring self Friday night, but he still led the Bolts with 17 points which he added with a game-high 12 rebounds.

In contrast, after averaging just 8.6 points in Meralco’s first five games, David rebounded from his struggles as he finished with 16 points while Ando had 12, eight coming in the payoff period.

Jared Dillinger also showed signs of returning to his old form by wounding up with 12 of his own, while Sean Anthony got 10 in a balanced scoring night for Meralco.

Marcus Douthit led Blackwater with 15 points and eight rebounds, as the Elite fell to its fifth defeat in six games.

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PBA Advisory

2017 Commissioner's Cup Format

The tournament allows teams to hire foreign players or imports with a height limit of 6-foot-10.

The top 2 teams will earn twice-to-beat edges over Nos. 7 and 8 while the No. 3 against No. 6 and No. 4 versus No. 5 pairing will be a best-of-three affair in the quarterfinals.

The semifinal stage will have a pair of best-of-five matches and the finals will be a race-to-four affair.

Gilas Pilipinas

Manila will host one of the three tournaments in the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The Philippine national men’s basketball team will try to pull off massive upsets against France, New Zealand, Canada, Turkey and Senegal in the competition slated on July 5 to July 10 at Mall of Asia Arena.

A total of 18 teams will participate in the three-nation event whose champions will book tickets to the 2016 Rio Olympics.